Pence to hit 3 Democratic Senate candidates in TV ad buy

Vice President Mike Pence is going on the air in three Senate races — not so much to pump up Republican candidates but to tear down Democratic incumbents.

Pence rips Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana over a range of highly charged partisan issues, from opposition to the GOP tax bill and Obamacare repeal to support for sanctuary cities and Planned Parenthood funding.

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With Republicans facing headwinds going into the November midterms, the party is waging an intense slash-and-burn campaign aimed at disqualifying Democratic candidates. The TV spots paint Tester, Heitkamp and Donnelly — all of whom face the burden of running for reelection in states that President Donald Trump won by double digits — as profoundly out of step with their constituencies.

“President Trump has been delivering for Montana every day — without much help from Sen. Jon Tester,” Pence says in the Montana ad. “When the time came to cut your taxes, Jon Tester voted no. When the time came to end sanctuary cities, Jon voted no. And when the time came to repeal and replace Obamacare, Jon Tester voted no.”

“Montana deserves better,” Pence concludes. “That’s why President Trump and I support Matt Rosendale. It’s time to say ‘No’ to Jon Tester — and ‘Yes’ to Matt Rosendale as your next senator.”

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The 30-second spot closes with clip of Rosendale, the Republican nominee, onstage with Trump.

The Montana ad is expected to begin airing by the end of next week, and the North Dakota and Indiana spots will follow. The Tester spot is expected to begin airing digitally on Friday.

Each of the ads are being paid for by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Pence has crisscrossed the country for Republican candidates in recent months, holding dozens of fundraisers and campaign events. On Thursday, he will travel to Florida to host a pair of events for Gov. Rick Scott. On Friday, he will fly to Nevada to appear with Sen. Dean Heller.

Pence hasn’t always embraced the role of attack dog. After waging an unsuccessful 1990 race for an Indiana congressional seat, he wrote an essay titled “Confessions of a Negative Campaigner” in which he swore off negative campaigning.

Pence, who was elected to the House in 2000 and then as governor in 2012, hewed closely to his positive campaign pledge for years to come. After being tapped as Trump’s 2016 running mate, however, he frequently went after Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

As the 2018 campaign kicked off, Pence resumed the role. During a visit to Pennsylvania earlier this year, he accused a Democratic candidate in a special election race of being a pawn of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.